Killing Me Softly
by Miss Vix
Summary: On the fateful day of the Final Battle, anything, and EVERYTHING that could go wrong, does so. Hermione ends up somewhere new... and uncovers a deeprooted plot that could harm more worlds than anyone could imagine. FF7KHIIHP Xover. Yaoi and het. pairings
1. Chapter 1

**I'm baaaaaaaack! Yes, I know... a NEW story, and I have so many others that need to be worked on. This is a compromise though. I haven't been able to write anything that is fully Harry Potter, FF7 or KHII... so, a compromise was called for. --stabs writers block--  
**

_**One third Harry Potter, one third FF7 and one third KHII.**_

**And guess what? It's ALL plotted out! I have it all set out, beginning/middle/end. So NO abandoning this story!**

**Disclaimer: None of these characters are mine... only the plot is... so don't sue meeee!**

**Oh, and for now, the name of this will be Killing Me Softly, but it might change once I get a better name... **

Hazel eyes opened up to a sight that she didn't expect.

She thought she would awaken in the Hospital wing, back at school... or maybe even out on the school grounds where she'd been struck down, but not here.

The skies were an angry red, a large meteor-like object looked as though it was suspended in the atmosphere, and this certainly was NOT London. It didn't even look like it could be on Earth. She scrambled her way up from the ground, looking around her, trying to figure out what the hell had happened. In her haste, she forgot to be watchful, and she failed to notice the two figures coming up behind her.

"Rude? I think we got ourselves a bit of trouble..." The smaller, redheaded man said to his partner, a large, bald black man.

"I think you're right." The other man, Rude, replied while looking over the girl's figure, spotting the noticeable bump in the area of her stomach.

"Think we should go introduce ourselves?"

"It would only be polite of us, Reno." Rude said as he began walking towards the girl.

The slight crunch of footfalls on the rocks behind her alerted the girl to the presence of others. She turned around quickly, and leveled her wand at the two approaching men.

"Who are you?" She trembled slightly as she realized that the redhead looked surprisingly familiar, while the bald headed man reminded her of one of her guardians.

"We could ask the same of you." Rude said, quirking a brow at the nice little stick in the girl's hand that was trained on him and Reno. He saw the smirk on Reno's face, and he hoped the man wouldn't do something to screw this up and scare her away.

"Look, I have onea those too!" Reno grinned, and grabbed what had looked like a cylindrical can and with a quick flick of his wrist, it extended out a good two-two and a half feet to look like an oversized police baton. He watched in amusement as he hit the power button and the girl's eyes widened at hearing the surge of electricity power through it.

"What the bloody hell is that?!"

"EMR."

The girl gave him a look, which Rude noticed looked surprisingly like the look that Elena gave Reno when he was being a showoff.

"I repeat. What the bloody hell IS that?"

Rude stepped in front of Reno after seeing the girl's grip on her stick increase. He didn't know why, but he had a feeling that was no ordinary stick. "EMR stands for Electro-Mag Rod." Rude felt Reno prodding him in the back.

"What's with th'stick?" Reno asked, stepping out from behind Rude.

The girl seemed to take great offense at her stick being called, well, a stick. "THIS is no mere stick... Watch." She pointed it in the general direction of a nice pile of rocks. "I'd move back some if I were you." She made sure to wait for the men to move, although they moved slowly, not sure why exactly they would need to move.

"Uh...ok." Rude ushered Reno closer to the girl, and stood watching her.

"Reducto!" She yelled, her wand still pointed at the rocks, a jet of reddish light coming from the tip. After a split-second of nothing, the rocks blew apart, peppering the three of them in dust and small pebbles.

After a moment of complete silence, Reno was the one to break it.

"You have GOT ta show me how ta do that!" He looked over at Rude, who was still looking at the now decimated pile of rocks. He nudged him in the ribs, trying to get his attention. "Rude, yo? Man, don't make me kiss you in front of the girl..."

No response.

"'scuse me for a moment." Reno grinned, and licked Rude from the bottom of his cheek to the top.

"Aw fuck! Reno! You KNOW I hate that!" Rude spluttered, wiping at his face with his jacket sleeve.

"'s why I did it. Duh."

"Don't you 'duh' me Reno!" Rude gave a fake growl and went to jump him when they heard the girl snickering.

"And jus' what is so funny?"

She stopped her snickering and looked up at the two men. "And I thought Draco was an odd name. Reno and Rude? Really, did your mothers name you that, or are those code names?"

"Both." They answered at the same time.

"We'll tell you our names if you promise to tell us your name." Rude said, looking at the girl who was still tittering slightly.

"It's a deal." She held out her hand to both men, sealing the deal.

"Rudolph Michael Urar." Another small giggle.

"Ela Renosha Tarshil." That earned full blown laughter. "Oh c'mon... It ain't that damn funny. What's yours anyway?"

Once she got her laughter under control, she took a deep breath and told them.

"Hermione Jane Granger, and yes, you're name IS that funny..."

Silence followed. Reno couldn't even make a smartass remark to her saying his name was funny.

"What?"

Rude glanced over at Reno, and received a nod in return.

"You're going to have to come with us." Rude said, and started to reach for Hermione's arm when she jerked away from him.

"Why? Why do I need to come with you two?" Her eyes held a flicker of defiance, and the wind was starting to cool down, and whip around them.

"Just... Trust us. Have we done anything to be untrustworthy?"

"No...but... What was with the look?"

"Our boss will explain." Rude looked to Reno for a bit of help, but he was too busy staring up at the sky. With a sigh, Rude turned back around to Hermione.

"Where am I?"

"Look, you need to see our boss. He can tell you everything you need to know."

With one last defiant look, Hermione nodded. "Fine, I'll go."

**_TBC_**

_**Read, review...and if you think you have a better name for this story... Tell me! has lost her ability to name things well **_

_**-Vix **_


	2. Chapter 2

**Annnnnnnnnnnnd time for chapter two! lol.**

**Hope you guys enjoy this.**

**Hints of Yaoi... if you don't like, then I suggest you don't read (or read and ignore those parts...lol)**

**Disclaimer: None is mine, but MAYBE the plot...maaaaaaaaaybe**

Rufus ShinRa sat behind his desk, pouring over the throngs of paperwork covering it. His normally perfectly combed and gelled blonde hair was falling into his face, as he continually ran his hands through it trying desperately to come up with some sort of idea on how to rid the planet of this menace, of Meteor.

His second-in-command, Tseng Xiang, stood in the doorway, holding two tall cups of coffee. "Shachou, I believe you would benefit from a break." His soft voice caused Rufus to look up at him.

"I can't afford to take a break. If I don't get something, ANYTHING... The world will be destroyed, and I can't have that happening, not on my watch."

"It's been your watch for much too long now Dear Heart... You'll not find a way to rid our planet of the encroaching menace if you continue to run yourself ragged while looking for the solution." The Wutain man perched himself on the edge of the desk, and handed his superior the coffee, hoping that even the smallest bit of a break would help soothe some of the man's frazzled nerves.

Just then, the door to Rufus' office opened and in walked two of his top Turks, Reno and Rude, but Rude seemed to be leading someone inside that had a most petulant look on her face.

"Sir, we brought someone to see you." Rude said, pushing the girl forward slightly.

Tseng rolled his eyes and slid from the desk. "Bring her back another time Rude. Let the President have a break... He's been hard at work fo-..."

"I think I can decide for myself, Tseng, if I can handle talking to her or not." Rufus interrupted Tseng's rant, earning him a disapproving glare from the older man. He stood up, and went to the girl and began circling her like a lion stalking its prey.

Hermione quirked a perfectly sculpted brow at the man prowling around her, looking more defiant than she had when Rude and Reno said she needed to come see Rufus.

"I take it you're their boss?" She asked, looking Rufus up and down. Damn, he looked SO much like Draco, eerily similar in fact.

"That I am." He extended his hand to her. "Rufus ShinRa, President of ShinRa Electric Company."

"Hermione Jane Granger... Hogwarts Head Girl and sole survivor of the massacre at Hogsmeade Village..." She trailed off at the end. Hearing the words come out of her mouth made them seem so... final.

"Sole survivor? I was under the impression that more than just you made it out."

"Well, one would think that if they weren't the-...Waaaait... How would you know about that?" She narrowed her eyes, looking at Rufus very suspiciously.

"There is much you don't know Hermione, and that is why your sudden appearance doesn't faze us at all." He said, turning back to the window, looking up and out, out at the fiery red skies, letting a sigh pass his lips. "We were told of your coming."

"What do you mean told?"

Rufus turned back to her, and gestured at Reno. "Reno's lineage is almost purer than mine. He comes from a long line of mages, and many of them had the Sight, and Reno was no exception." He allowed the redhead to smile smugly as he continued.

"You see, Hermione... We know of exactly what's happened to you, why you are here and what's going to happen."

"Then tell me."

"I am afraid we can't do that. Much of what happens, has a timeline, and if that timeline is disturbed.. Well, the consequences would be disastrous for our world and yours."

"Then why even tell me about it?"

"There are a few things you can know, and that you do NEED to know as of now."

"I'm not getting any younger... tell me what I CAN know so I'm not totally bloody clueless while I'm here."

Rufus motioned for her to sit down, and he dismissed the other three men. "Oh, and Tseng... if you could bring Elena in, that would be much appreciated."

"Of course Shachou."

"Ms. Granger, if you would wait just a few moments, I'm sure Elena would also be able to help with this as well."

"Shachou? You sent for me?" Another blonde came into the room, her short hair framed her heart shaped face.

"Yes Elena, I did. Sit next to our guest, I'm sure you will recognize her."

Elena looked over at Hermione, and after a few moments, recognition dawned on her. "Hermione? Sir? Is it really...?" She looked to Rufus for affirmation, which she received.

"What the bloody hell is going on? How do all of you people know me?!" Hermione was getting tired of all these people knowing who she was and what was going on and she had no clue about anything but the fact that she should either be dead, or back at Hogwarts right now.

"Calm down dear... All in due time, all in due time." She huffed, but looked back at Elena, waiting for the woman to go on.

"Oh yes... After Reno began having the weird dreams, about you, of course, they asked me about my family background, since I was pretty vague on my application, and I never speak about them... And all for good reason." She looked over, waiting to see Hermione a little more relaxed before she kept going.

"My family was murdered."

Hermione's head whipped around so fast, Rufus and Elena both though that she would get whiplash. "That's dreadful!"

Elena nodded, "I know... It really is. The worst thing was... they never did figure out who did it. No marks on their bodies, and autopsies revealed nothing."

"But...how can that be?"

"They weren't the only ones."

"Huh?"

She sighed, and looked down for a moment. "Around that same time, Reno's mother and Rufus' mother were found in that exact same manner. Rude chooses not to speak about it, but I have a feeling some member of his family was killed as well. Tseng mentioned something about it, but he doesn't like to talk about it."

"All without marks, and autopsies revealed nothing?"

She nodded.

"It sounds like... The killing curse, but that's impossible. None of you do that kind of magic here, do you?"

"No, we don't, which is why when Reno's dreams started up, and we saw the effects of the killing curse, we knew that was our cause, but just HOW remains to be seen."

Hermione's brows knitted together in concentration. Just how would a wizard get here and get away just as quickly, and why would they use the killing curse on people here? It didn't make any sense. There was no reason for a wizard to come here willingly, much less actually use the killing curse.

"Perhaps... If you related to us what happened to you just before you appeared here, maybe we might fine out how YOU got here, and see if maybe the same thing could have happened to someone else."

Hermione looked up at Rufus, and nodded slowly. It wouldn't be easy to talk of the massacre, but he was right. It might just help them to figure out how any of this was possible.

_**Flashback**_

"_Hermione! Come on... We have to get to the Great Hall before Filch leaves!" Harry called out as he tugged on Hermione's hand, trying to hurry her up._

"_Harry, calm down, really. Filch will be there for another thirty minutes, and you know that. What's got you so excited anyway?" She looked over at the overly excited Harry and extracted her hand from his grip._

"_OH. Nothing really... It's just, this is our last year, and our last time to go to Hogsmeade. Don't you think that's worth being excited about?" He turned his green eyes to her, and looked her over. "Besides, aren't you the least bit excited that you get to go shopping for your baby while we're there?_" _That earned him a smile from Hermione._

"_Yes, I am quite excited about that... Although it would have been more exciting if the father were here." She looked down, a tear slowly making its way down her cheek._

"_You know he's on a mission for the Order... Everyone has been saying that my next showdown with Tom will be the final one. With all of his Horcruxes gone, even his dear Nagini, he's nearly defenseless."_

"_Don't be so cocky about it Harry... There's always a chance that he could have something up his sleeve."_

"_Like what? Muggle weaponry? I doubt it 'mione... He despises anything muggle, even though he himself is a halfblood."_

"_I'm just saying Harry... Don't go into the battle half-cocked. It's still going to be a harsh, and longwinded fight."_

_He nodded, "I know... And you're right."_

_She smiled, and pushed him towards the door. "Come on, enough of talking about this... We need some downtime, and a butterbeer sounds like a good idea."_

_Harry grinned, and pulled her out of the portrait hole and all the way out to the carriages, where they met up with Ron and Ginny. _

_The ride to Hogsmeade was uneventful, as usual... And no one noticed the absence of most of the 7th year Slytherins... and even quite a few of the 7th year's from the other houses. Once they arrived and stepped out from the carriages, it became very clear that something was not right._

_The shops stood empty. Not a soul was seen inside or out, not even from the Hog's Head pub down on the outskirts of the village._

"_Harry... Is it just me, or is this really suspicious?" Ron asked, looking around. He could have sworn he saw the edge of a black robe fluttering around the corner of the Three Broomsticks, but he brushed it off._

"_It is quite suspiciou-ARGH!" Hermione, Ron and Ginny turned back to look at Harry, who was kneeling on the ground. He looked up at them, and they immediately knew what was going on._

"_He's here...isn't he?" Hemione voiced the question, despite knowing the obvious answer._

_Harry nodded mutely, and looked down the road... past the Hog's Head, and saw his mortal enemy making his way towards the village._ _His Death Eaters walked behind their leader, the sunlight glinting off of the silver masks covering their faces, although nearly all of them were known, and had nothing to hide._

"_Bloody hell. It looks like he's recruited even **more** Death Eaters... We need to get everyone into position." Ron said, turning to the others that stood behind them, and started barking out orders. They'd practiced a scenario like this one in the D.A. and most everyone knew where they should go, and what they should do._

_Hermione nodded, and helped Harry up from the ground. With Harry held in one arm, and her wand in the other, she sent her Patronus up to the school, warning them of the danger, and the need for backup from the Order and the Aurors._

"_You can let go of me now 'mione. I can stand on my own two feet..." He smiled at her, and stood straight, and began to yell out orders himself and directed those who hadn't been in the D.A. to places where they could help, but wouldn't be in the way once they got started._

_By the time the Aurors and Order members arrived, the battle was in full swing, and right in the middle of it was Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville and Luna. The others had formed a circle around Harry, allowing him to snipe at Voldemort, which was angering the man to no end. Though it looked as though the battle was going in their favor... They began to notice strange things. What looked like a wall of fire was surrounding one Death Eater and his opponents (the Weasely twins) and he wasn't fighting with a wand. He was fighting with actual weapons... Which wasn't typical Death Eater style at all. Another had columns of water around him, and large bubbles were blasting away at the Aurors around him as he picked away at the oversized guitar in his hands._

_Harry looked in the direction of a loud, pained scream... and saw one of the 4th year Gryffindors fall to the ground, two sharp throwing knives stuck through her chest where her heart was at. Another was fighting using...a book? It seemed odd, but it became clear that the man was not using the book to fight. He wasn't even fighting at all. He had replicas of himself around the area he was in, and he laughed every time he saw a stunner or even the killing curse hit one of them, reducing it to nothing before he produced two to take its place. _

_He shook his head, not believing what he was seeing._ _"Move... Let me at him." He said after a few minutes. He was ready, he could feel it in his bones that this was the final battle, that he had to end this now._

_Grudgingly, they parted and let Harry through._

"_Go. Go help the others... I can handle this." They started to protest Harry's orders, but he waved them off. "GO! They need your help more than you can help me with this._"_ And with that, he took off, and went back to his assault on Voldemort._

**Here, Hermione had to stop and collect herself. She looked down at her stomach, and rubbed a hand over it, feeling a feeble kick in response. She managed a smile, and then continued on with her story.**

_Halfway through the battle, Hermione and Ron were back to back, fending off a good half dozen Death Eaters when a very familiar voice screamed out. Everything stopped in that moment, fighters for the Light and for the Dark._

_Harry Potter was still standing, though how was a separate question in itself. He had a Claymore sticking out of his chest, and the man who had wielded it stood beside Voldemort, his hood hid his face except for wisps of long blue hair and the glow of maniacal yellow eyes._

"_HARRY!" No less than two dozen voices yelled at once. They stood, transfixed by the horrible sight of their savior, their classmate... their best friend... falling to the ground, the horrible weapon still sticking out from his chest. _

"_Now... Who will save the world from me? Your wretched Boy-Who-Lived is NO MORE!" Voldemort yelled, and pointed his wand at Harry, whispering the two terrible words that would bring about the end of their beloved Harry Potter. _

"_Avada Kedavra."_

_And with one last twitch, the Boy-Who-Lived was gone, never again to fight Voldemort, never again to look at his friends and laugh at a stupid joke that Ron had made... He would never again open those brilliant green eyes, mutter another curse, or anything else for that matter._

_Harry Potter, was dead._

_The man beside Voldemort walked forward, and pulled the now bloodied weapon from Harry's rib cage and pointed it into the crowd._

"_Let this..." He kicked at Harry's body, "..be a reminder to those who oppose us. You stand against a force stronger than you will ever know, and you will NEVER defeat us. With our forces combined,_ _we number far more than you..." He snapped his fingers, and suddenly the meadow behind him filled with horrific creatures. Inhuman, animalistic and hellbent on destroying anything in their path._

"_As you see... We do indeed outnumber you. Now. Prepare to die, you insolent fools. Those who dare oppose Lord Voldemort and his new cohort, Master Xemnas shall die by wand or by weapon wielded by one of these men."_

"_HEY!" A loud, strong, and distinctly female voice screeched._

"_Yes, Larxene... It slipped my mind, do forgive me." Voldemort said, dodging_ _one of her kunai._

"_Sure you did... pompous old fool. Don't forget next time." Even the Death Eaters looked concerned for her. No one, not even the late Harry Potter dared talk that way to their Lord, and live._

"_I assure you, love, that I will not forget again."_

"_Good... I'd hate to have to skin your scaly, snake ass."_

_Voldemort chuckled, and looked back at the other man. "Saix... I believe it is time to finish this off, and quickly."_

_The man lowered his hood, and motioned for the others to follow suit._

"_Prepare to die." Saix stated, baring his fangs for all to see._

_Soon, the entire village had been decimated, and the battle had moved from there to the Hogwarts school grounds. _

_Hermione stood shoulder to shoulder with the remainder of the forces of light. Hagrid, McGonagall, Remus, Emmeline, Sirius, Ron and the rest of the Weasely's_... _Kingsley, Dawlish, Proudfoot... That's all that remained. Their forces had been so badly decimated, and the rest of the teachers were inside the castle, standing guard over the first and second years._

_The Flurry of Dancing Flames, the Melodious Nocturne, The Cloaked Schemer, the Savage Nymph and the Luna Diviner stood across from them, surrounding Voldemort._

"_Give it UP. You're not going to win against us." A snarky female voice called out over the grounds. "You can't win... not against us."_

"_Like HELL we'll just lay down and give up!" Hermione spat out, a frown adorned her face._

"_Oh..yes. You WILL!" The hood was dropped, and the blonde woman stalked close to Hermione, standing toe to toe with her._

"_And what makes you think that? We may number few, and the odds may be against us... But we will NEVER give up." Her hazel eyes flashed dangerously as she stood to her full height, bringing her eye to eye with the other._

"_Awww... so noble and brave of you." The blonde said, smiling nearly sickly sweet. "But, I'm afraid I find bravery and nobility quite stupid and foolish." She never took her eyes from Hermione's, but she was able to fling one of her kunai and hit Ron in the arm, scoring deep into the bone._

"_Bloody hell, you bitch!" _ _Ron yelled, trying to get the knife out, but found that he couldn't._

_With a smirk, Larxene made her way over to him and jerked it free, not caring if she hurt him further._ _She returned to her place next to Saix, and awaited further orders._

"_Finish them."_

_The command was quiet, but everyone on the grounds heard it._

_And then... That was when all hell broke loose._

_The remaining forces of light stood, wands at the ready when, almost like they had apparated, the five who stood next to Voldemort were behind them, weapons drawn. There hadn't been a crack of sound, or anything like when they'd disappeared, other than a flash of black._

"_Like our little trick? Too bad you can't do anything like that." A stray red spike fell from inside of the hood, and bright green eyes looked out from it as well._

_The Weasley twins looked to one another and nodded, disappearing in a flash of light and with a crack, appearing behind him._

"_Looks like we CAN do that..." Fred (or George) said, scoffing at the man's obvious cockiness._

"_Who ARE you people?" George (or Fred) asked, looking the nearly anorexic man over, wondering how such a skinny twig of a man could have beaten them so badly earlier._

"_The name's Axel. A-X-E-L, got it memorized?"_

_They didn't answer him, but they launched themselves at him, which started the fight up again._

_Soon, everyone was fighting, and Hermione noticed a Death Eater fighting next to her, fending off the other Death Eaters, keeping them from her._

"_Draco?"_

"_The one and only love, the one and only. Now. You need to get away from here. They have something planned, although I don't know what, and it involves you." He said, leaning close to her, inhaling her familiar scent._

"_No, I refuse to leave while everyone else is still fighting!"_

"_Herm. If you don't leave, you are putting both your life and our child's life_ _in danger."_

"_Draco... What use is it to run away? To run means he has won, and I refuse to allow that."_

"_Hermione, to run means you will be able to live, to have our child and raise it. I would rather you run, and live, than to stay, die and lose our child."_

"_I can't leave you."_

"_In a way... you're not." He placed his hand on Hermione's growing stomach. "You'll always have a small piece of me with you, where ever you end up."_

_Hermione knitted her brows at his words, but she didn't have time to ask him what he meant before she saw the redheaded firewielder come close to her and Draco._

"_Get away from us!" She snarled, and clung to Draco's waist. _

_Axel chuckled at the girl's reaction. "Calm down... I'm here to help you."_

"_Didn't look like you were helping earlier when you were toasting everything and everyone in sight."_

"_Had to make it look like I was actually on their side, didn't I?"_

_Hermione had no comment for this, so she just looked up at him, wondering just what the HELL was going on._

"_Look, we don't have time. I'm going to do something that'll help you in the long run. I have no clue where you'll end up, nor will we be able to figure out where you've gone... so you should be safe until it is time to return."_

"_Return? Wait... what? I don't understand!" _

"_No time to explain. Now, GO!" Axel held out his hand, and opened a small portal._

"_Draco... You know what you have to do."_ _The blonde nodded, and pushed Hermione away. _

"_It is time for you to die, Mudblood!"_

_Hermione's jaw drooped. He hadn't called her that word in nearly two years. Then, she saw him mouthing at her. _

'_Everything I say... I mean the opposite.'_

_She nodded, trying to figure out just what he was going to do. Time was not in her hands however, as he raised his wand. _

"_It takes much hate to be able to cast this... AVADA KEDAVRA!"_

_All eyes turned to the shout, and watched in horror as it looked like the horrible green jet of light was going to hit Hermione. Axel made a small motion with his head, and Hermione felt something nudge her in the direction of the portal. At the angle she was, it looked to everyone as though she would be hit by the curse. Another shout came from her left, and a jet of husky blue light headed for her as well. Just before she would have been hit, the two streams of light converged with a blinding flash, and she fell through the portal._

_Draco fell to his knees, laughing hysterically. To anyone but those who were close enough to know he and Hermione's secret, it would have looked as though he was laughing for having rid the world of her, but it was quite the opposite. He wept, and laughed, for having had to done this and risk never seeing her, or his child ever again. He felt like he was losing his only tie to his sanity that he had left._

"_Come on Draco... we gotta go." Axel said, tugging on his arm._

_**End flashback**_

Rufus and Elena sat still, transfixed by the tale.

"So... you're saying that after this 'Axel' opened the portal and pushed you through... You fell out here, in the middle of what's left of Midgar?" Rufus looked slightly confused, but he was still trying to work it out in his mind.

"Exactly. I'm not sure what happened when I went in the portal, but I know for a fact the trip didn't take but a few moments before I popped out here."

"Hmmm... This is utterly intriguing. It coincides exactly with Reno's dreams, and the details are exactly the same...except..."

Hermione's ears perked at that. "Except what?"

Rufus shook his head. "Never you mind right now dear... I think it would be best if you got some food in you and got a good long sleep. Tomorrow is a new day, and who knows what might happen?"

Hermione sighed. She was obviously going to have to play by this man's rules and not her own. "Of course, that would be delightful."

"Elena, if you be as kind as to show our guest to where she will be staying?"

"Which is?"

Rufus rolled his eyes. "With Reno and Rude, remember?"

The other blonde looked confused for a moment, then it hit her. "OH yeah... ok, yeah, I'll take her." And with that, she led Hermione from the office and to an elevator.

"Why am I staying with Reno and Rude?"

"Security measures."

"I'm not going to run away."

"It's not you running away that we're worried about."

"Huh?" Hermione looked to the female Turk, and cocked her head to the side. "What do you mean?"

"It means, that others know you're here, and you are very, very important, and if they got a hold of you well...it could get bad."

"What do you mean?"

"Big boom, explosions, death destruction..then end of our wo-I'M going to shut up now..." Elena slapped a hand over her mouth to keep quiet.

"What do you mean, the end of your world?"

"Nothing, forget that I said anything."

"No, I don't believe I will."

"You had better."

"Or what? You'll oblivate me?"

"Might."

"Do you even know how? Do YOU have a wand?"

Elena smirked, and held up a very familiar slender stick of wood. "Why...yes, it seems I do."

"Damn."

"Indeed. Now, this is Reno and Rude's quarters. Ignore any strange noise you may hear, including, bangs, bumps, booms, screams, wails and any form of vocalization that sounds pleasured. They really are a kinky couple."

"I'm staying...in the same quarters...as two men... who are randier than rabbits?"

"That about sums it up."

"Great... just wonderful."

"They're absolute sweethearts though... You'll love them, I know you will." She gave a suggestive wink and flounced away.

"These people are so damned odd..."

"Why thank you. I pride myself in being distinctly different." Reno said from behind her, walking down the staircase, towards the kitchen, nude as the day he was born, except for the towel he was using to dry his hair.

"Oh, sweet Merlin, do put some clothes on!" Hermione exclaimed, but snuck a peak anyway. 'Oh BAD Hermione! You have Draco...' Her inner voice scolded her, until she turned and saw Rude come downstairs in much the same manner; minus the towel, as he had no hair on his head to dry. 'Oh bloody hell...' Even the voice had to agree...

"He's gorgeous..." Hermione said quietly, and followed the two men into the kitchen, the whole time, she was staring at the tattoos that spanned the mulatto expanse in front of her. She was thoroughly entranced.

"Maybe staying here won't be _too_ bad..."


	3. Chapter 3

After a couple of hours spent talking over coffee, tea, in Hermione's case; Reno, Rude and their newest roommate decided it was time for some sleep.

They had talked over some ground rules (there were none, really, Reno just liked trying to sound responsible) and had talked a bit more about Hermione's magic, since Reno looked like he might nearly wet himself if Hermione didn't offer to teach him at least SOME of what she knew. He easily mastered the levitating spell, and was wanting to learn a couple of the hexes she told him about.

"Jelly-legs jinx, eh? Heh. Sounds like Rufus after Tseng's done with him..." Reno smirked.

"You're one to talk Little Red. You can't move for at least an hour afterwards, unless you're feeling extra energetic, or have had a ton to drink."

Hermione shook her head, chuckling at Reno launching himself at Rude from across the couch. The two men had finally gone to their room and slid on some sweats... or, boxers in Reno's case, saving Hermione from her slight staring problem. (Not that the sweats and boxers prevented her from staring anyway.)

"Oooohhhhh... You said you wouldn't talk 'bout that in front of other people!!" Reno said, sitting on top of Rude's chest, pinning the larger man on his back on the couch.

"Hey... You're the one making fun of your brother! Besides... At least his first time he didn't pass out from the orgasm!"

"Not m'fault... You were just...that..." He shifted a bit, hiding his obvious reaction to the mention of that night. "How 'bout we not talk 'bout this in front o'the new roomie?"

"Oh, don't mind me... I'll go ahead and head to my room... I'm sure you two need your alone time." Hermione said, smiling at the two men. "I'm utterly exhausted anyway... So much has happened today."

Reno waved at her, smiling from his perch on Rude's chest. "You can come to the room if y'need anything... We don't bite.."

"Well, I don't...He does."

"Only when I'm...mmph!" Reno's words were cut off by Rude's hand covering his mouth.

"Excuse him... He tends to talk before he thinks..."

Hermione shook her head. "I'm sure I will be fine, but if I have need, I will come get one of you." She rested her hand on her rounding stomach as she got up slowly, still feeling sore from her rough tumble to the ground from the portal.

"'kay, if you say so..." Reno had managed to get Rude to remove his hand and waved her off. "'member, first room to the right is yours, the left one is ours... the shower is just down the hallway a short way. Food's in the fridge if'n ya get hungry and you're perfectly welcome to make yourself at home."

She nodded, then her eyes narrowed just a bit as she turned back around and walked away. Reno-- He looked oddly familiar... He looked like one of those in the robes that hadn't been Death Eaters...but--How could that be? She gave a quick shake of her head as she walked into her room, deciding it was a mere coincidence.

-------------------

"Hey...Rudy... you think she can make alla this stop?" Reno asked after he and Rude had gotten into their room and were laid out in their bed.. the redhead curled up on the bigger Turk's chest like a cat. He'd been worried about the latest happenings... things striking too close to home, and all of it was on TOP of Sephiroth unleashing Meteor, and Holy having been called, but not making an impact...yet.

The bald man nodded, "Yeah, I do think so. That's what your dreams said, right?" He opened his eyes and looked at Reno, a brow lofted.

"Yeah, they did... but...they're just dreams... Even if I DO have the Sight.. they CAN'T be right ALL the time, can they?"

"That's something only you know, Red. As far as I know, you've always been right, for better or for worse, and every time, it's been a good thing that you told us, even if it was something BAD that was happening."

Reno nodded, though he still felt as though there was something disconcerting about this whole ordeal. He rested his head against the broad chest and let himself drift off to sleep, knowing he would need his strength for the next day.

Rude fell asleep just a little while after Reno did, barely hearing the door creak open, a head of bushy brunette peered inside. She'd forgotten that she was often plagued with nightmares, and those nightmares kept her from sleeping very well, even in an exhausted state such as the one she was in right now.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Killing Me Softly - - - Interlude **_

_**(A look at what else is happening away from our heroine!) **_

_**The World That Never Was.**_

Bleak and dismal... the rains that fell never ceased, though they were interspersed throughout the city. No people roamed the streets, no lights were on in any of the windows of the buildings, not even a tree, a hunk of grass or even a stray leaf from some plant could be seen.

The master and lord of all that was known as Kingdom Hearts stood at the top of Memory's Skyscraper, gazing out at the realm that was made solely for he and his followers, his Organization.

"Why do you vex me so, my lovely Heart?" Silver hair that spilled over broad shoulders hung in soft, shiny sheets as he looked up, up at the huge heart that glowed like a moon, like a narcotic. He couldn't rip his eyes away from it, at least, not until he saw something quite different happening.

Normally, the glittering pink hearts fluttered softly up to the bigger one, merging, making it stronger, but now... he saw something strange, out of the ordinary.

A large, glittering deep purple heart was floating up, though not heading for the large one like was normal... but instead, it headed right for him, bobbing lightly in front of him once it reached him. He tilted his head, inspecting this rare beauty closely, unaware that the distinctly different color signified something was very different about the heart.

Almost innocently, it circled him. He was honestly intrigued by this, since he'd seen no other heart act as this one was. It twinkled, a bright tinge of green evident in the sparkles. He leaned in closer, scarcely breathing. He was suddenly getting a rush of feeling being this near to the heart. He felt nearly giddy.

Suddenly, there was a flash of dark light and a high pitched screech of pain as two became one, though it was highly unwilling.

_**Destiny Island**_

A head of spiky chestnut hair was buried under his pillow, trying to catch a few more desperate Zzz's before he absolutely HAD to get up. He was tired still from the past year of chasing dead ends and ghosts, and now that he, Kairi and Riku were home, the only thing that was on Sora's mind was relaxing and re-energizing.

"SOOOORAAAA!!!!" A loud, feminine voice called out from his window, two heads sticking up over the sill, though one looked fairly disgruntled. "Sora! WAKE UP!" The redhead scowled at her first best friend, choosing to throw his stuffed papaou fruit at him in an effort to rouse him. "Guh, Riku...wake him up would you?"

"Let him sleep Kai... He's more than earned it." The silver haired teen rolled his aquamarine eyes as he tried to climb back down. Riku had only come along because Kairi had throughly thrashed him into an awakened state and MADE him go with her to get Sora.

"NomoreGummiShipspleasenthankyou?" The voice was muffled and Sora shifted in his bed for a moment, then Riku noticed a definite change in his best friend's sleeping pattern. He was starting to writhe around a bit and he knew he'd gone from happy to bad in about the span of ten seconds. "'thehellizat?" He muttered, then his back arched as if in pain and he let out a loud screech, one that at that moment was being echoed in the World That Never Was.

"Crap.. Sora!" Riku jumped into the room and ran over, trying to rouse the brunette. Luckily, he had only to wait a moment before crystalline blue eyes snapped wide open and Sora sat up in bed, looking wildly around.

"WhereamI?" He blinked rapidly, his eyes locking onto Kairi and Riku as soon as he noticed they were in the room with him.

"Destiny Islands, where else would you be right now, Sor?" Kairi looked him over, her violet eyes a bit concerned.

He shot her a withering glance, knowing there were more than a few places he could be right then, and at that moment, he was very glad he wasn't in that desolate city, because that scene he'd witnessed, that he'd FELT had scared the ever living Hell out of him. "It was so REAL..." He said quietly, looking over at Riku. "...and he looked like YOU."

_**Hallow Bastion**_

Cloud and Squall looked up from their stations, both grabbing up their blades as the alarms went off. Invaders... They'd had more and more issues with the Dusks and Heartless than usual especially with Sora back at the islands.

Quickly, they made their way down to where the disturbance was, and much to their surprise, it wasn't Nobodies or Heartless that had come this time.

A tightly formed circle with wand arms pointed straight out in every direction, both teens and adults were staring wide eyed at their new location. "Bloody Hell, Minnie, I don't think we're in London like we had aimed for." The black haired man said, looking around, finally spotting the two men with swords staring at them. "Take a picture, it lasts a lot longer."

"Squall, I--I'm not imagining this, am I?" Cloud blinked, unsure of just what the hell was happening.

"No idea, Strife. If you're imagining it, then I am too." The brunette swordsman walked forward, ignoring the wands. "Who are youl and why are you hear?"

"Great MERLIN, lookit th' sizea his SWORD!" The redheaded teenage girl to the right of the older lady exclaimed, staring at Cloud's First Tsuragi.

"Merlin? You KNOW Merlin?"

The girl lofted a brow, "KNOW Merlin? Great buggering barnacles no... He's the greatest wizard to have ever walked Earth though. He's been long gone for many many years,"

At that time, the white haired magician of Hallow Bastion came walking out, looking at the group of miscreants. "Did I hear someone say my name?"

"Merlin, we seem to have some knew visitors." Cloud looked at Merlin, then back at the others.

"W-wait... you called him...Merlin?"

"Well, yes. I always call people by their given name--" Cloud didn't get to finish his sentence seeing as it looked like someone had just hit the entire group with a Sleep spell.

"Oh, my... let's get them to my house, I can tend to injuries there." Merlin muttered, toddling off towards his house, leaving the two swordsmen to bring their guests along.


End file.
